Children with Neurofi bromatosis Type 1: Positron Emission Tomography

Neurofibromatosis Type 1 (NF1) is a common genetic disorder with a high prevalence of CNS abnormalities including tumors, mainly gliomas involving the optic pathway. Current methods of surveillance using clinical and MRI imaging protocols are not effective in selecting the patients who have tumors that are likely to cause progressive symptoms or undergo high grade transformation, both of which would benefit from early therapy. This chapter highlights the clinical utility of cerebral 18F-flurodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography in children with NF1 in determining optic pathway tumors that require treatment, identifying high grade transformation of gliomas and in differentiating MRI T2 weighted hyperintense lesions from true gliomas in this patient population with often challenging neuroimaging findings.